Sept. 22, 2019 - Out with the old...

Transcript

56 comments

Jan

... in with the even older? X3

Kicking off the new chapter with a surprise purchase. Andrea seems hesitant about this...

Also, I hope no one here was affected by the foreclosure crisis in 2010. If so, I apologize for the text in panel 5. It was either that or "Coldwell Bunker" or "Dewey Cheetum Homes".

If you have any "fun" (or not) house repair stories to share, let me know below :3 I'd love to include a few if possible.

ndrvr • 09/22/2019

Some dusting here, tighening a screw there...presto, right? ^^

Back in the old days when i was tiny, my parents expanded the house. Doing so required taking out part of a wall where the couch stood. A window had to go first, meanwhile i napped on the couch, right under said window - which fell during work inward instead outward! My parents, scared to hell, picked the glassshards off me, then me off the couch.

...i still slept, undisturbed by the ruckus, and hadn't a single scratch...

Fred Brown • 09/22/2019

Oh priceless, Andrea's plaintive, slightly aghast, little meep.

And what timing. I'm in a construction frenzy--on two buildings--'cause soon the snow. So I see that dump, and BAM!! I instantly know everything that needs to be committed on it.

Where's my Skilsaw? Charge!!! Fun job, it would be. (If you built your own house--I did--you're permitted to call it fun. :- ) )

Freezer • 09/22/2019

Nine to Nine: The Money Pit.

Shockwave07 • 09/22/2019

Racoons on the roof to the camera crew: What? I'm just sunbathing up here.

Firethorn • 09/22/2019

Let's see, fun reno stories.

Dryer duct so full of lint that we had to use a shop vac to blow it all out, making it look like it had snowed in the yard where it let out. (Always check your dryer vents when you move in somewhere; clogged ducts is a leading cause of housefires.)

Moving a stud wall, then moving it back because we decided after the fact, and somewhat without communication, that we were going to use a different sized stove. (measure twice, cut once, but make sure that what you measured is what you are actually using)

Installing cabinet uppers is always fun with two people. (Okay, you hold this wood box over your head while I quickly lean into it from a ladder and screw it in without looking.)

Having to find, follow, and fix mystery switches that somehow turn lights on in various rooms other than the one you were in. (What did that one turn on? The light in the bedroom. Okay, how about this one next to it? The over-stove light.)

Mike Blanche • 09/22/2019

We bought (we often say "stole") a FNMA foreclosure in 2015. It took two years to get it livable, and even then, large unexpected expenses cropped up on a regular basis. New $10,000 A/C system? New $8,000 septic system? You have that kind of money just lying around, right?

Ultimately, we have a weird house (in a quonset hut), 5 acres near (but not on) a lake, and about 15 ongoing projects all the time. Wouldn't give it up easily. And get this, guys; the house is 1/2 the building, and the garage is 1/2 the building. That's right, 1700 square feet of garage.

Kangaar Foxfire • 09/22/2019

I've seen how this movie ends. The previous owners return, offering to buy the irreparable house back for less than half of what they sold it for.

Tir Amahn • 09/22/2019

Oh god, I foresee bad things when Wolf gets involved with the "repairs".

Solarixsnowpaw • 09/22/2019

A friend in college told me her dad's bad plumbing story did it all himself and everything went fine till the first person used the toilet discovered cold winter mornings are no problem when your thrones plumbed into the hot water line

William • 09/22/2019

I got a laugh from the raccoon on the roof.

Frith Ra • 09/22/2019

Having worked as the in house draftsman for a design/build housing contractor for a few years I have a few, briefly: The "professional" electrician (newly hired) who managed to a) not turn off the power when the crew was preparing to rewire a house, managed to get the wiring in wrong enough that every appliance in the house released it's magic smoke, and get his head stuck in a metal fence, then couldn't get it out. The welder who refused to wear safety goggles (folks, those things have a reason), the carpenter who slipped on a 18 penny nail while on a roof, bringing down a stack of shingles, a lot of tar paper (some already tacked down) a crate of nails, and a small portable generator two stories with him. Alcohol was involved. And finally, for now, the sub flooring consisting of several sheets of 1/2 inch plywood, not yet tacked to the floor, while the walls were still framing, and the fairly hefty dust devil that rearranged everything inside the house while the crew were out.

Burner • 09/22/2019

Not so much renovation as damage control, I gave up trying to renovate this place and ended up selling it eventually, with the understanding that the buyer was getting a bunch of land with a crap house thrown in.

Had to replace the bathroom floor, it gave out while I was asleep and I nearly fell 10' into the cellar in the middle of the night; the toilet, sink, and tub were where I left them when I went to bed, I never thought to double check the floor before I stepped into the room in the dark.

I discovered a hole in the cellar wall hidden by bushes and a pile of old cabinets when a mountain lion got in, I had to chase him out with a rifle. The most alarming part of that episode was that my neighbours weren't even curious about the gunfire

I was about to go into town one morning when I realized the house was sagging, I had to jack it up with a hydraulic ram and a pipe, cut down a couple of trees, and jam them under some beams in the cellar

K.C. • 09/22/2019

Second floor window above the sign and below the raccoon on it's left side. That's either a very artistically cracked window or a slightly cracked window with the home's former owner enjoying a couple of views?

John Dunkelburg • 09/22/2019

This looks like the opening to a bad haunted house horror flick.

N7: • 09/22/2019

With that area code, that wouldn't happened to be in Canada (Alberta) would it? 🤔

typhoon • 09/22/2019

I can see why he bought this place, the location IS beautiful. The house though looks like it should house a few episodes of never ever do this at home - or a visit from wolf. Or maybe they can do a few episodes with wolf as host to raise money for a real house on the spot. Does the place actually have Power/Phone/Internet? I'd think someone who lives off youtube videos would need those.

As for amusing house stories: Apart from bad contractors things went smoothly for me (brick and mortar can take some neglect) except for the 70s build extension. When the leaky roof was taken off to fix leak and put in insulation it turned out they had only put in about half the beams needed to support it with a heavy winters snow load. They had already sagged and it was only still there because the lack of insulation ment the snow never accumulated. Someone at some point had noted the sag and simply hung a second ceiling under it to hide the sag - putting even more weight on the ceiling.

Katnik • 09/22/2019

I built my own house from scratch, took off work for a year and just made that my job. It was a blast ! Oh, is that Woo on the roof ? Could be an interesting neighborhood.

Banner • 09/22/2019

I was affected by it in that I couldn't sell my house when I moved (it had lost more than 50 percent of it's value) so I became a landlord for 10 year :-P

On the other hand, the house I bought was foreclosed and I got a really good deal on it. Though I put a lot of work and money into it to fix it up. So in the long run, it all evened out.

Dreit • 09/22/2019

Damn, I never expected Tor to grow up and do something nice like this, especially fourth panel! Andrea must he happiest meeping girl in whole countryside!

And sadly I don't have any own stories as I'm in quite complicated situation. I live in small town, have promoted in my work and moved into office. My dad have bought 100 years old house and decided to divide it into two flats - one for me and one for my brother. If we move out or lose our interest, he could rent any of flat to people as it will no longer be needed. At same time I'm in relationship with girl living 100km far away in capital city. She wants to stay here, because of her parent's company which gives her job she really like. Also there is possibility to get old flat from her parents, totally repair everything and live here happily ever after. But it takes years and with her Andrea-like style of communication it probably will take some more time. So we are still living parents far away. But...! (end of part one)

Dreit • 09/22/2019

(part two) As my dad was repairing house he have bought, I can remember some things. For example we did flooring in whole first floor out of two layers of OSB plates. When we put in last one, we noticed all of them smile on us with text "this side down". D'uh! And in ground floor dad one day decided to finish walls in hallway so they were nice and white. When he finished it, he just stood at one end..."wait...I forgot about light switches!". So instead we'll have to get PIR sensors into ceiling (luckily made out of those office panels you can lift up and move away) and somehow connect about four of them together. Also pipes are going randomly up and down, so I expect some problems with heating and water supply, but that luckily wasn't my idea. Ih and yes, cables from light switches have random colors as my dad was active when I was at work and couldn't check him out. So it will be "fun" to find out which is which.

Shockwave07 • 09/22/2019

Got one repair story of my own... Well a few, but going to only tell the one. Did some maintenance work for the place I work for, fixing up a two story hotel building converting the bottom four bedroom/bathrooms into two bed/bath/living room/kitchenette suites. So naturally need to convert some plumbing.

Plumb in new lines, setup the new water heaters outside, kitchenette plumbing installed (which I might note were slightly larger than a mini fridge, with the fridge included!). Going good. Now that the copper lines are soldered, have to pressurize the line to test them.

The lines are good. What isn't is the fact one of us forgot to turn off the water shut-off valve kitchenette (not yet installed). Had water shooting up to the roof in that room. Good thing it was caught quickly, but still not the best way for that part to go!

Kaelgren • 09/22/2019

Almost looks like house from movie Secret Window.

soriac • 09/22/2019

Makes me wonder, who would be a better help in renovating this house? Tim "Tool Man" Taylor or Wolf?

Panther • 09/22/2019 • edited

A question when i see them both in Tor's scoot : what's happened to Andrea's bike ? ......... About the house : as sam Starfall would say "- It's a ruin but it was cheap" XD

LionkingCMSL • 09/22/2019

@K.C. That is a raccoon in that window.

One thing about buying a foreclosed home, always check the cabinets, plumbing, and wiring; to see if they're still there. many people, not me, are so angry that they have lost their house will go and wreck the place before they leave. This only hurts the bank in a small way, but really hurts the new owners of the place. When I was foreclosed upon I left everything as it was and did no damage; it wasn't the bank's fault, or that of the buyers I didn't pay the mortgage.

Pantheris Malakim • 09/22/2019

I don't have a home repair story, but only because I did not buy the home in question. When I was house hunting a few years ago, I was shown one house that looked gorgeous from the outside.It was a smallish 2 storey house. It had an interesting layout with a shower right off the master bedroom on the first floor.Then, I went upstairs. The second floor was a single room with a closet right under the house's peaked roof. Right under the peaked roof was also the only place in the second floor that I could actually stand upright. Even then, the top of my head was brushing the ceiling.Not a deal killer, I thought to myself. I could use it for storage or something. I'll check out the basement.The basement turned out to be unfinished, literally. It had a bare dirt floor, and even a large boulder in the middle of the space. I could see the bare beams of the first floor. It looked like someone had started to dig a crawl space into a basement and just gave up.

jrh150482 • 09/22/2019

Tor doesn't see a rickety foreclosure. He's seeing what that rickety foreclosure could become.

Rocketroo • 09/22/2019

Not a house but a mobile home I bought in a vastly overpriced area and this was the only thing that didn't require you to have a cool quarter million in the bank for the down payment (and that was the 'housing assistance' duplexes). Older but at first glance not too bad... note first glance... You know those pipes that stick out the roof to vent the drain systems so the smells go outside and the drains flow freely? Clogged. But the genius previous owner drilled holes in top of the drain pipes after the U-Joint to fix that. Windows had been replaced. But apparently didn't really get the measurement right on one as there was a good 1/4" gap between the window and the wall on the outside (inside had been fitted with the paneling). You couldn't see it because it was behind the furnace fuel tank. Had to completely rebuild that entire section of wall as all the wood was rotten. There were various lumps under the carpet, numerous electrical issues, etc. Prior owner: Apartment Maintenance Man

microbuss • 09/22/2019

oh I'd love to go explore a house like that & get cool stuff from in there!

David Klandagi • 09/22/2019

Well, ok. Not a home repair story, as we were trying to patch a rusty car, but maybe you can use this dialog:

me: How can Detroit make a whole car out of fiber glass but we can't stick this to anything but ourselves?

my uncle: Well, for one thing, they have control over the situation.

Adam • 09/22/2019

Been a part of the "rebuild" progress with old abandoned homes and foreclosures. First rule you got to remember is "It always looks worse, before it looks good."

Considering what tor has to work with, there is defiantly a worse even as bad as it looks now, but when its done....There is potential here, it can look really beautiful, even with all the hijinks' the crew is known to produce, a lot of potential.

https://www.standout-cabin-designs.com/images/300xNxfishing-cabin-designs1a.jpg.pagespeed.ic.iv2AngGbyt.jpg

Troy • 09/22/2019

Ok, As a residential Architect of 35 years, I could dump some hundreds of great/hilarious stories on you about money pit chaos, but the one I always share the most is the first one. When I was 16 I was working for my grandfather who ran the municipal Water system. When ever a new house was built, I was the one that used the bachhoe and dug the trench from the main water line to the pit where the service line from the house would connect. Policy was, when turning on water in pit, sit there while owner/contractors would do their inspection for leaks. New plumber kept saying he had it perfect and I would not be needed. I Turned on the water. 1 1/2 - 2 minutes later, water shot out of the pipes in the roof. He had connected water line to vent stacks in house, instead of connecting vent stacks to waste/sewer drains. Laughed my tail off as I turned the water back off, and plumber turned 15 shades of hilarious red. One week later, I returned, different plumber had fixed lines, no prob

Adam • 09/22/2019

Also, a quick little story about foreclosed homes....Often things are left behind from previous owners, sometimes everything is left behind. Like they literally up and left, leaving everything from cutlery to the tv literally right where they are. Sometimes something valuable, sometimes just junk.

I once found a penny from 100 years ago in the wall of a house we was tearing down to just the frame and then rebuilding.

Leak • 09/22/2019

Someone remind me - why did they have to move out again? I've totally lost the plot after the recent diversions... :)

Rocketroo • 09/22/2019

@Leak https://www.tigerknight.com/99/2018-10-07 Yeah, it has been a while since that eviction notice. Life is never dull around these folk.

Dreit • 09/22/2019

Rocketroo At first I read "Aperture Maintenance Man" and I really wasn't sure what to think :D

Silverwolf • 09/22/2019 • edited

@Leak: They got evicted because Andrea squeaked so loudly they got a noise complaint.

If Wolf gets involved, the house will get fixed.

TOO fixed.

-Walls repaired (to DoD tolerances for a missile silo).

-Electrical system brought up to code (with services from 120VAC to 12KVAC).

-Plumbing fixed (and capable of delivering 4000 PSI on demand).

-Ethernet wired (along with fiber-optic and a few other experimental things).

William • 09/22/2019

Leak - Your answer is on strip panel for Oct 7 2018. Wolf's box caused too many bang's. Also Dec 28 2018 Tor talked about moving out of town.

Shockwave07 • 09/22/2019

@Leak: After Wolf's nap box testing, Andrea let out a loud meep and exceeded loud noises complaints for their apartment.

Sammy • 09/23/2019

All they need is a Mystery Machine van, some Scooby snacks, and they're all set.

Rocketroo • 09/23/2019

Oh, by the way: (assuming there is significant damage inside as well) 0) Ship Wolf to the other side of planet. Repeat as necessary. 1) Fix Roof!!!!! 2) Windows and outside walls. 3) Now the outside is stabilized: floors, walls, electrical (upgrade to latest breaker box if it is older type) and plumbing to kitchen, one bathroom and one other room to live in. Insulate. And triple check the furnace!!! Cut off service to rest of house for now. Rip out every scrap of carpet it will be molded. Do not replace carpet with carpet. Get laminates, wood, or even steel plating (if Wolf comes to visit). Less mold issues. 4) Fix rest of house at leisure, bringing back online electrical, heating and plumbing as you go. 5) Fix roof again, always keep the roof at a top priority repair. Once it starts going the rest of the house decays at 10X speed. 6) None of the above will go as planned.

Leak • 09/23/2019

@all: Thanks for the heads up! I went back a few months, but couldn't believe it'd be nearly a year... :)

Steve • 09/23/2019

In the words of the Frozen Trolls It's a bit of a fixer upper.

If Wolf gets involved, I can see it less getting renovated, more relocated.

N7: • 09/24/2019

Question guys (gals) Did I step on a land mine?

ndrvr • 09/24/2019

If Wolf is in on fixing the shack he'll turn it into a Autobot ^^.

Add Tim Taylor and that Autobot may shift Earth into Hyperspace...

Firedrake • 09/24/2019

A couple of years ago, my parents were doing some maintenance on their house and my mom entered the attic to inspect the roof from the inside. She noticed a hole in the beam so she leaned forward to take a close look. At the same time, a longhorn beetle larva peeked out of the hole. You should have heard her scream - I mean my mom XD Luckily for the roof it didn't cause a serious damage - I mean the larva.

Sammy • 09/24/2019

Why do I have a feeling that the house will be in an episode of Swords n Sausages as The Haunted Tavern? 'Silver! Behind you! G-G-Ghost!'

Mr.Phox • 09/24/2019

They hire Wolf to fix the house, now the toilet get 500 channels.

Dragon Furry • 09/25/2019

Only house building story I can remember is when the family was fixing up a old summerhouse. My mom got attack by a big heavy furniture, that got thrown out, really fast XD

Ravis • 09/25/2019

Definitely haunted with something strange in the basement.

S'aaruuk • 09/26/2019

@Silverwolf: Wolf helping fix the house.....I'm LOVIN' the "upgrades". Those are the very kinds I'd probably come up with especially living out in that much of a rural area. :-D :-D :-D

Kasper • 09/28/2019

Parents owned a few houses. Excellent tenant of 2 years gets a job offer out of country. Hand over is good, inspection is good. In the time between inspection and us going in there to do prep for the new tenant. Say 1 week.

They had STOLEN THE FLOOR!! Literally carpet. Underlay and the floor boards. all sawn off about 5cm from the wall. all that was left was the cross beams. How the hell we have no idea.

yenot • 09/28/2019

Have you been inspired by this? https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2012/10/wild-squatters/ https://www.boredpanda.com/abandoned-house-animals-kai-fagerstrom/

There was even a "raccoon dog" there (Finland has no true raccoons): https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uuuploads/abandoned-house-animals-kai-fagerstrom/abandoned-house-animals-kai-fagerstrom-17.jpg

Les • 09/29/2019

My sister bought a house, formerly owned by an electrician. She found out the fuse box was only there for show (not hooked up to anything), and the garage was on the same circuit as the electric oven in the house.

SunCat • 11/01/2019

My parents renovated an old apple warehouse into our home. It was more tearing down than anything. They found a mummified cat in one of the walls, or the ceiling or something. I guess that might be a bit hard to depict in this comic...

Oh, another story from that project. They put on a metal roof and when they went to pick the metal up at the store, one of the employees tried to pick up the stack of long sheets right in the middle with a forklift. Bent the whole stack, a big crease in the middle of these long sheets. Dad had to cut out the creese and put them all up in two pieces.

Owlfeather • 11/14/2019

So, this is the start of your anthro version of Green Acres?

Comments are closed.